by Van ©2014
		Chapter 6

Surprisingly, breakfast the next morning was not awkward for the four students, friends, and undercover law enforcement operatives.  It might have been—awkward, that is—for Jane and possibly for Maura—but once the twin thunderbolts of the case being solved back in Boston and the revelation that their cover had been blown for some time, any suspected or actual private shenanigans of the night before faded into the background.

"At least it was our lead than broke the case," Ainsley noted as she ate.

"There is that," Jane muttered, then took a sip of coffee.  "We probably wouldn't have gotten credit for anything anyway," she continued.  "We're not here, remember?"

"Not officially," Susie nodded, idly stirring her spoon through her Müesli and soy milk.

"Satisfaction lies in the effort, not in the attainment," Maura said primly.

"Oh, thank you for that pearl of wisdom," Jane intoned.

"Mahatma Gandhi," Maura said.

"Gesundheit," Jane responded.

"No," Maura laughed.  "I was quoting Mahatma Gandhi."

"Wonderful," Jane huffed as she sipped her coffee.  "Satisfaction," she continued.  "I'll give you satisfaction."  Her eyes widened and a blush suddenly colored her cheeks.  "I mean... never mind."

Maura's response was a blush of her own, and suddenly something in her own bowl of Müesli became very interesting.

Susie and Ainsley exchanged a knowing glance, but said nothing.

"Anyway," Jane said (still blushing), "you think we ought to say something to somebody?  I mean about our blown cover, why we're really here."

"I don't believe that's strictly necessary," Ainsley offered, "but it would be polite."

"If the occasion presents itself," Maura said, "we could thank Giselle and Kate for their help in apprehending the criminal."

"Even thought they didn't help," Susie chuckled.  "That's very mischievous, Doctor Isles."

"And speaking of mischievous," Ainsley added, "I suppose we should also thank Penny.  She was just as non-instrumental in our unacknowledged triumph as Mistress and Kate."

The group nodded as they continued eating and/or sipping their coffee or tea.

Jane noticed an impish smile curling her BFF's lips and dimpling her cheeks.  She'd seen the like before.  "What?" she demanded.

"I don't know what you mean," Maura purred.

Ainsley and Susie watched with interest, chewing their food and saying nothing.

"Spill it," Jane growled.

Maura chewed and swallowed a spoonful of Müesli before answering.  "I was just thinking that there might be a way to really thank Penny for her participation in our investigation."

"Well?" Jane demanded.

"I'll tell you later," Maura said.  "I want to check on a few things."  She then continued eating... and smiling.

Jane rolled her eyes, heaved a long suffering sigh, and tackled the remainder of her bacon and eggs.

This was the fifth and final day of class, and it started with Kate binding all four students in somewhat elaborate box-ties.  It was the semi-stringent version, with each student's wrists crossed and raised past the horizontal, so that their hands and forearms formed an "X," and were then lashed against their spines.  They remained rope-free from the waist down.

Then, Mistress appeared and began her lecture.

"I hope you've all enjoyed this course," Giselle said, "I know Kate and I have enjoyed being your teachers."

This resulted in smiles, nodding heads, and murmurs of agreement.  Even Jane played nice.

"This morning will be the final formal lesson," Mistress continued, "and this afternoon we'll have a free period.  Kate and I will answer any questions you have and conduct any demonstrations you'd care to request.  So, let's begin."

First came a brief recapitulation of safety: the body's pressure-points and most vulnerable areas, the importance of insuring ropes were tied in a non-compacting manner, especially with suspensions and challenging positions, and the need for continuous supervision, to never leave a meditation partner alone in inescapable bondage, etc.  All of these lessons had been drilled into the students repeatedly, both in lectures and their homework reading.

The next topic was an equally brief recapitulation of the basics of meditation, including a discussion of how physical discomfort and erotic stimulation could be used as challenges to attaining new levels of serenity.

Finally, she began covering new material.

"Students often ask if rope is the only means by which restrained meditation can be explored," Mistress lectured.  "Personally, I enjoy and have come to appreciate Kinbaku-bi, the beauty of tight binding, but any means of restraint may be used, subject to the principles of safety, of course.  For example."  Mistress made an elegant gesture and Kate strolled to one of the cabinets and returned with a tangle of leather straps.  "Well-designed commercial bondage gear is perfectly suited to our needs," Mistress continued.  "My personal collection is limited to a few gags, but binders and harnesses are available if you're interested in such things."

Meanwhile, Kate strolled behind Jane, sorting out the various straps of what the students could now see was a head-harness incorporating a rubber ball-gag and mouth-covering panel-strap.  To be precise, Maura, Susie, and Ainsley could see.  Jane was trying to see, but when she started to turn, Mistress placed her hands on her shoulders and held her in place.

"Wha—Mrrpfh!"  Jane's casual inquiry as to Mistress and Kate's intentions became a wide-eyed protest when Kate reached around from behind and thrust the ball into her open mouth, then began threading buckles and tightening and securing the harness-gag's various straps.  Sandwiched between the teacher and her assistant and bound as she was, Jane's only option for meaningful resistance was to go into full combat mode.  She knew how to kick and make good use of her knees, but now was neither the time nor the place to demonstrate her police training.  Jane rolled her eyes and stamped her bare feet in nervous frustration, but otherwise allowed Kate to complete the task of caging her head in narrow straps of black leather and sealing her mouth.

The straps encircled Jane's forehead, passed from the corners of her mouth to either side of her nose, crisscrossed under her chin, and passed across the crown of her head.  Many of the straps were linked in some way, and as each buckle was secured, the harness grew tighter and ever more effective.  Jane's ponytail was unencumbered, its base bypassed and framed by horizontal and lateral straps.  The ball was two-inches in diameter and did an excellent job of trapping her tongue and filling her oral cavity, the chin straps encouraged her to bite down on the semi-pliant sphere, and the chamois-thin panel-strap covered and pressed against her lips and lower face.

Maura, Susie, and Ainsley watched this spectacle with amazed amusement.  They didn't giggle or openly smile, of course, but they didn't protest or attempt to come to their fellow student's defense, either.

Jane was not amused.  "Mrrrrf!"  Mistress and Kate took a step back and Jane shook her head, forced several well-muffled comments through the rubber and leather, and stared daggers at both of her teachers and her fellow students.

As usual, Maura was the most amused by Jane's antics, at least from Jane's point of view, and it irritated her to no end.  Dr. Smartypants' smug, gorgeous face also sparked thoughts of "revenge," once Jane had her BFF alone in their cottage.

Kate had strolled back to the cabin and returned with a roll of white tape, bandage scissors, and what appeared to be a baseball size sphere of soft foam, possibly of the Nerf variety.

"Tape can also be used for restraint," Mistress lectured, "as in duct tape, electrical tape, and the various kinds of medical tape."

The students watched as Kate tossed the ball to Mistress, then pulled a strip of the milky-white tape from the roll and used the scissors to snip it free.

"For gags," Mistress continued as she strolled towards Maura, ball in hand, "I recommend either Elastoplast or some other hypoallergenic medical product.  What is commonly referred to as 'duct tape' varies widely in quality, meaning the tape, itself, and especially the adhesive.  Some brands can make for effective gags, even as single strips, when properly applied, but the strong adhesive might irritate sensitive skin.  Other brands are laughably ineffective.  Their adhesive is easily defeated by the jaws and facial muscles.  And many brands are in between, most effective when used in multiple layers."  She was now standing directly before Maura, and the ball was inches from the Maura's no longer smiling lips.

Eyes locked with her towering teacher, Maura opened her mouth and Mistress stuffed the foam sphere inside.  Maura closed her mouth, and as soon as her lips came together, Kate plastered the wide, stretched strip of tape across her lower face and used her fingers to smooth it in place, ensuring all parts had a firm grip.  When Kate stepped back, Jane and the other members of the class could see the three-dimensional form of Maura's lips.  Her naturally full cheeks were even more full that usual, thanks to the foam stuffing, and there was no doubt whatsoever in anyone's mind that Dr. Maura Isles was well and truly gagged.

"And speaking of multiple layers..." Mistress said.

Kate went to the cabinet a third time and returned with a roll of flesh-colored tape.  It was as wide as the Elastoplast, but had a rough texture, as if it was made of roughly woven cloth.  She also had another Nerf ball.

"Coban wrap can be used as a very effective gag," Mistress lectured as Kate tossed her the ball.  She stepped in front of Ainsley and held the foam sphere before the blonde's lips.  Ainsley opened her mouth and in went the ball.

Kate pulled the end of the Coban wrap free with a loud rip and set to work.  She started by giving Ainsley a tight cleave-gag, then proceeded to stretch the tape and wrap layer after tight layer, covering her lips and mummifying her lower face from just under her nose to just past the tip of her chin.  Ainsley's pale blonde pixie-cut offered no impediment.

"Coban and similar products like Vet wrap and Ace bandages are also effective," Mistress said, "but take care.  As with rope, one doesn't want to impair the circulation, and over-stretched layers of such tape can be very tight, indeed."

All four students were already inescapably bound, and now Jane, Maura, and Ainsley were effectively gagged, as well.

That left Susie.  She watched Kate return the Elasoplast roll, scissors, and the empty cardboard cylinder that was all that remained of the Coban wrap to the cabinet, and return with... nothing.

Soon, Kate and Mistress were standing close to the slightly anxious Senior Criminalist.

"And now, Ms. Chang," Mistress said, "the class needs a spokesman, and since you're the most experienced naturalist and the one who used her personal connections with Boston area spas to convince the Moon River Colony management to accept your group's applications, you're elected."

"Spokesman?" Susie asked in what as much a nervous squeal as a question.

"Yes," Mistress confirmed.  "I'd like you to explain why the Chief Medical Examiner of the state of Massachusetts, a Boston Police Detective, a Toronto Detective Constable, and yourself, felt it was necessary to sneak into my class without introducing yourselves and explaining your intentions."

"Commonwealth," Susie muttered.  "Massachusetts is a commonwealth, not a state."

Mistress said nothing, but continued to stare.

"Okay, it is a state," Susie admitted, "but we call ourselves a commonwealth."

Mistress continued to stare.

"Like Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and Virginia," Susie added, then swallowed, nervously.

Jane twisted her bound wrists, but Kate's expertly applied ropes offered not even a hint of the promise of escape.  Busted, she thought, and could tell that Maura and Ainsley shared the same opinion.

Susie's account of the circumstances, motivations, and relevant details of how and why the four friends came to be at the Moon River Colony in general and attending Giselle's Shibari Meditation class in particular was cogent and well-organized, with only the occasional foray into interesting, but peripheral, fun facts.  Why the rhetorical side trips?  Because Maura was Susie's mentor and idol, of course.  Giselle listened patiently, skillfully shepherding Susie back onto the main narrative as required.

Kate also listened, but as she did so, she used two lengths of rope to hitch Jane and Maura to one of the support columns using non-compacting rope collars and long tethers. She then used more rope to bind Ainsley at their feet, lashing her legs together using the ladder-tie technique.  She also incorporated a tight crotch-rope and tied the Detective Constable's big toes together.

Jane settled to the floor and crossed her legs.  Then, somehow, Maura folded herself into a full-lotus at Jane's side.  All three stringently gagged and inescapably bound students listened, as did Mistress and Kate, as Susie closed her story with what they knew of the capture of the Boston Bondage Burglar.

"We're all very sorry we attended your class without presenting our credentials," Susie added, smiling up at her towering teacher.

"You are?" Giselle purred.  "Sorry?"

"Well, not actually," Susie admitted, still smiling.  "We are law enforcement professionals, and the circumstances warranted investigation."

"I see," Giselle said dryly, then shifted her gaze to Kate.  "What do you think?" she asked.  "Should we gag this one, hang all four by their heels from the rafters, and make a run for our hideout?"

Kate chuckled, then shook her head.  "I'm tired of the life of crime.  Let's finish the class, then hang them from the rafters."

Susie was looking from face to face, her eyes slightly wide behind her glasses.  "W-what?"

Jane rolled her eyes, Maura giggled through her gag, and Ainsley shook her gagged head.  Obviously Mistress and her assistant were joking.

Giselle sighed.  "Powerful spa clients blocked you guys from getting a warrant, and pressured your superiors into forbidding a straightforward approach?"

"Y-yes," Susie stammered, "as I said."

"Well," Giselle continued, "if any of them give you trouble when you get back to Boston—"  She smiled at Ainsley.  "—and Toronto, give me a call."

"I don't like the idea of our rope being used to bind innocent crime victims," Kate muttered.

"Agreed," Giselle nodded, "not even our used rope.  Now—"  She gestured to Kate, and her assistant turned and strolled back to the same cabinet that had held the makings of Jane's, Maura's, and Ainsley's gags.  "Doctor, Detectives," Giselle addressed the three bound and gagged students.  "All is forgiven.  Kate and I will now complete the preparations for our final demonstration."

Jane, Maura, and Ainsley exchanged a slightly bemused, slightly relieved look.  They knew they weren't in danger, but were also very glad there weren't any hard feelings.

Meanwhile, Kate had popped another Nerf ball into Susie's mouth, sealed her lips with a strip of Elasoplast, and now was fitting a leather hood over the cooperative but nervous crime lab tech's head.  Mistress helped by gathering Susie's hair and threading it through a hole in the very top.  The hood had a generous oval-shaped opening that exposed most of Susie's forehead, as well as her eyes and nose.  Kate had removed Susie's glasses while fitting the hood, and now she slid the earpieces under the leather and settled the glasses back in place.

"Good," Kate said with a grin.  "I was afraid they wouldn't fit with the hood in place."

"That would have been a shame," Mistress purred.  "Then Ms. Chang wouldn't have a clear view of what's about to happen."

Susie blinked in surprise.  Her topknot ponytail swayed from side to side as she shifted her gaze from Giselle to Kate and back.

Mistress turned and strolled back to the rest of the class.  "That thing is called a 'Gwen Hood,' in case you were curious."

Jane had no idea why anything would be called a "Gwen Hood," much less the more-or-less skintight, black leather hood hugging Susie's head.  Unfortunately, she wasn't exactly in a position to ask, and if Maura knew—which was probable, given her acknowledged status as a walking Wikipedia—her BFF wasn't in a position to tell.

Meanwhile, Kate had eased Susie to the tatami carpet and was just finishing the binding of her crotch, legs, and big toes in the same manner as she had Ainsley.

"Now," Mistress said smiling at her students.  "We've discussed the use of what some call 'predicament bondage,' and erotic stimulation, as meditative challenges, but thus far the entire class has been about individual efforts to attain serenity.  You have taken the first tentative steps down a path that holds even more wonders.  Our final demonstration will involve two students joined in challenging bondage.  And after careful consideration, Kate and I have agreed that the students best and least talented in the art of meditation will be our subjects.  The fact that they are also a couple is a happy coincidence."

Jane frowned.  What the hell is she babbling about?  A couple?  Who's a couple?  Jane noticed that Maura was blushing, furiously, and Susie and Ainsley were gazing at them—at Jane and Maura—and by their eyes, they were definitely smiling.  She watched as Kate untied Maura's tether and led the still blushing honey-blond to the center of the room.  She turned to Giselle and found their towering teacher smiling down at her.

"I want you to understand that this is in no way retaliation for your group sneaking into my class under false pretenses," Mistress purred.  "In no way whatsoever.  I've already forgiven you, remember?"

If it's not retaliation, Jane wondered, then why did you bring it up?  She would have asked, but... gag.

Kate tied Maura's legs together in the same manner as Ainsley and Susie; however—and it was a BIG however—a 600-pound gorilla however—she incorporated a wand-style vibrator, lashing it between Maura's thighs with its doorknob-style head pressed against Maura's labia!  It was of ivory plastic and rubber and had a long power cord.

Gag aside, Jane's vocal cords were paralyzed, her eyes wide, and her heart tripping like she's just chased a suspect six city blocks!  "Mrrrrf!"  She finally managed a protest, but it was a pathetic whine, rather than the intended gag-muffled dictate.  She watched as Kate lifted her now box-tied and leg-lashed BFF to her feet and used three long ropes to link the back of her box-tie to the pulley system overhead.  She tugged on the key rope, pulleys squealed, slack was taken up, and soon Maura was suspended vertically with her toes about two inches above the carpet.

Kate strolled to a corner and selected a length of bamboo and a coil of rope, then returned to Maura and proceeded to bind her already helpless body to the bamboo pole.  When she was finished, Maura's toes were on point, her feet and toes lashed to one end of the pole, and the other end lashed to the box-tie ropes at the nape of her neck.  In addition, Kate tied tight bands and hitches of rope through her other bonds and around her already helpless body, further lashing her to the pole.  The final result was Maura suspended and unable to bend any part of her body to any significant degree.

Kate then selected more coils of rope from the Lodge stores and dropped them at Maura's feet.  She then sauntered to Jane, released her tether from the support column, smiled, and led her towards her BFF.

Jane's harness gag made arguing, issuing threats, and even begging impossible, and while she was box-tied and her arms useless, her legs and feet were completely free.  Jane could have resisted.  She might even have gotten in a few strategically placed kicks and/or knee jabs if she'd tried.  At the very least she could have made a scene, but she didn't.  Detective Jane Rizzoli, Boston PD, heart pounding and beginning to sweat, let herself be led like a goat on a leash to her exquisitely bound BFF without any resistance other than a slight hesitancy in her step.

Kate positioned Jane and Maura face to gagged face, looped a rope around both their waists, and pulled out the slack.

"Mrrpfh!"  Jane stutter-stepped forward until her tummy touched Maura's.  The rope loop tightened even further, then more loops followed.  Backing away was no longer an option, and trying to kick would be awkward and ineffective.  Wiggling and squirming were Jane's only options, but—naked bodies pressed together—wiggling and squirming were out, as were writhing, wriggling, twisting, and fidgeting.  There was all that embarrassing skin, half of it Maura's, not counting the rope, of course, and—"Mfffh!"—then Kate positioned more strategically placed hitches and loops, pulled—"M'mpfh!"—pulled again, and Jane and Maura's boobs first touched, then were squeezed together!

Even more rope tightened, and soon Jane and Maura were lashed together from shoulders to waist.  Both were blushing, furiously, but neither was struggling.  In fact, they were both frozen in their bonds.

Next, Kate lifted Jane's left leg, placed the heel against Maura's spine at the small of her back, and used a loop of rope to keep it there.  Jane's right leg was next—"Mrrf?"—and Kate lashed the wide-eyed Detective's crossed ankles together.  She then threaded rope through Maura's bonds and around Jane's legs above and below her knees and her thighs, reinforcing what was now Jane's involuntary, cross-legged embrace.

Finally, Kate and Mistress tugged on various ropes, the pulleys squealed, again, and the rope-joined students lifted into the air.  Lateral ropes were added and tightened, and eventually Jane and Maura were suspended equidistant between the floor and ceiling.  Jane's spine was vertical, Maura's body was bent back a few degrees, and their weight was evenly distributed between the conical web of suspending ropes.

Face-to-face, not to mention boob-to-squashed boob and tummy-to-tummy, Jane and Maura locked eyes.  Both their hearts were hammering, and both their gagged faces were flushed and shining.

Jane turned her head and focused on Susie... then Ainsley.  Maura did the same.  Their fellow students were lying on their sides, bound and gagged, and watching them with wide-eyed amazement... or awe... or wonder.  Anyway, they were frozen in their bonds, like Jane and Maura, and they were staring.

Meanwhile, Kate had plugged the power cord of Maura's vibrator into a long extension cord, and was plugging the extension cord into a block of ivory plastic about the size and shape of a brick.  The brick, in turn, was plugged into a small laptop computer.

"Vibrator, control module, and control program," Mistress explained, pointing first at Maura, then the plastic block, and finally, the laptop.  "The challenge for both of you is to meditate for the remaining two hours before lunch."  She tapped a key on the computer, then folded it closed.  "It will be difficult, as the vibrator will start and stop at random intervals and the intensity of the vibratory stimulation will also randomly vary."

Jane and Maura stared at their teacher.  Nothing was happening... other than they remained prisoners of both Kate's ropes and gravity.

"Don't worry," Giselle chuckled.  "There will be a brief rest period before the program starts."

"Tea, Mistress?" Kate inquired.

Still smiling at her suspended demonstration, Giselle nodded.  "That would be nice, as would a stroll on the lake shore."

And with that, Mistress and her assistant turned and left the Lodge, closing the door behind them.

Jane looked at Maura, Ainsley looked at Susie, Susie looked at the suspended tableau of her mentor lashed to Jane, Jane looked at her Canadian colleague, Ainsley looked at Maura—everybody looked at everybody else.  There was no squirming and testing of bonds.  It was pointless.  There was no mewling and screaming through their respective gags.  That also was pointless.  They simply hung or lay in their bonds.

Ainsley was amazed by this turn of events.

Susie thought she had never seen anything as exquisitely beautiful in her entire life as Maura and Jane in intimate bondage.

Maura was at once aroused, embarrassed, and amused... and aroused.

Jane was mortified, terrified, and... nothing else.  Okay, she was horny.  In fact, she was horny as hell!

Just then, the vibrator buzzed to life.  Maura flinched in her bonds (and against Jane's body), and her eyes popped even wider.  With only a sample of one, she couldn't be sure what initial power setting had been triggered by the control program.  She suspected it was probably mid range.  Yes, for now she'd characterize the waves of vibration coursing through her mons pubis, labia majora and minora, clitoral glans, and causing her entire vulva in general to quiver as "mid range."  She might revise that characterization after additional trials, but for now—it felt good!  Maura shivered and locked eyes with her BFF.  It felt so very good!

Jane was aware of the vibrator as well.  Her center of gravity was directly above the throbbing wand's business end (and Maura's pussy), but she wasn't getting any direct stimulation, not at this setting.  Jane was getting stimulation from Maura's wriggling and shivering as the vibration continued.

Maura was panting through her gag, her eyes locked with Jane's.  And then, even as the vibrator continued to buzz, Maura closed her eyes and composed herself.  Slowly, her breathing became deep and even.

Meditating? Jane wondered.  Really?  At a time like this?  Of course, they were supposed to be meditating... but still.

The buzzing continued... and continued... and then stopped.

Maura continued to meditate, remaining perfectly relaxed in her bonds, breathing slowly and deeply.

As for Jane... not so much.  Two hours?  Are you kidding me?  She restrained herself from testing her bonds, not wanting to disturb her fellow captive, but it was very difficult to remain perfectly still and not squirm against Maura's smooth, firm, tan skin.  As Jane breathed, her breasts pressed against Maura's, more when she exhaled, less when she inhaled, but always with intimate contact.  Her nipples—Jane was sure she could feel them pressing against Maura's—her nipples were sensitive.  All of her was sensitive.

And then—"Mrrf!"—the vibrator clicked on, and this time it was on high, Jane was sure.  She could feel the actual vibrations this time, maybe, and it was doing nothing to alleviate her horniness problem.

As for Maura, she continued meditating... although Jane suspected her BFF's breathing rate might have picked up a little.

Oh, gawd!  Jane shivered, despite her best efforts to remain still and not disturb Maura.  Jane could tell that much more of this and... she'd make a spectacle of herself!  A wet, squirming, moaning spectacle of herself!

Susie lay on her side and watched the demonstration unfold.  Is it possible to experience a sympathetic or empathetic orgasm? she wondered.  She was very much afraid she might find out before lunch.

Ainsley also watched, and had already decided what was happening right now would not go into her written report.